SMYRNA - The Wolf Mountain Nature Center is celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2026. On Sunday, July 26 from 12 to 4 p.m. the center will host it annual event, Wolves & Watermelons, which this year doubles as a milestone anniversary celebration.

The Wolf Mountain Nature Center's mission is “dedicated to the spirit of the wolf, past, present, and future.” The 20th anniversary celebration invites visitors to take part in that spirit. While marking the center's two decades of growth, the festivities will remain focused on the wolves themselves.

Visitors will be able to walk the nature trails, observe the animals, and take part in giving the wolves their annual watermelon treat. To celebrate the center's 20th anniversary there will be live music by the Four Corners String Band, Kandi's Kitchen food truck, and commemorative 20th anniversary plaques and t shirts for sale. There will also be a ceremony for honoring the center's spirit wolves at the memorial garden.

Admission is $10 for those age 12 and up, $5 for ages 6-12, children 5 and under are free. The admission fee helps support the center's activities.

At its opening, the Wolf Mountain Nature Center housed only two wolves. Today, it is home to over a dozen, along with both coyote and fox habitats.

Founder and head animal caretaker, Will Pryor, decided early in life that wolves would always be part of his world.

Though the center does allow public visitors, Pryor emphasizes that the Wolf Mountain Nature Center is not a zoo, but that it is a sanctuary preserve where people can experience wildlife first hand. “Come and see wolves in their natural environment,” Pryor said, “These are habitats, not cages,” he added.

A major goal of the center is to provide wildlife education. Visitors are invited in to observe the wolves and other animals in a place where their natural behavior is possible, with the hope of fostering an understanding of ecosystem balance and appreciation for the keystone species. The original enclosure spans an area of nine acres, where the wolves can act how they please. While the wolves are fed a scheduled nutritionally appropriate diet by volunteer staff, they are still able to hunt and forage within the vast enclosure, as well as develop pack dynamics.

Now, with multiple enclosures and packs to manage, the center offers a rare opportunity for visitors to observe wolves and other canid species. Wolf Mountain currently houses three eastern coyotes, each over 10 years old, who help educate visitors on a species they might even find in their own backyards.

Reflecting on generational stories that paint wolves in a negative almost evil light, most famously red riding hood and the “big bad wolf” trope, which fueled fear and eradication.

Pryor hopes that providing education and forming these positive experiences will counter the narrative and encourage the younger generation to appreciate wildlife.

When asked if he believes wolves could ever return to the wild in meaningful numbers, Pryor said, “It lies with the younger generation.”

This belief drives the center's youth specific education programming, hosting field trips and providing information in an interactive way.

Since its founding, the center has been entirely built and operated through the help of volunteers. Pryor said that in 20 years the center has not had to pay a staff member to work, and that the center would not exist without all of the help its received throughout the years.

“It's a small staff, but everyone is so dedicated to the center,” Pryor said.

Some volunteers have been contributing for over a decade, educating the visitors, and maintaining the grounds. A rare few, after extensive training and certification, are permitted to enter the enclosures with the wolves to perform specialized duties.

While there, three volunteers, shared insight on what it is like to work there and what it means to them. One of the student interns, Milo Perkins, said it gives them a “sense of fulfillment” while working towards a related college degree.

Intern Madison Perkins (unrelated) who travelled from out of state for the summer to volunteer said, “This is where I want to be,” hoping this experience will lead to a career in wolf conservation. Volunteer Devin Fortman who has volunteered at Wolf Mountain since 2017, works in conservation with the NYSDEC for his full-time job and travels from the finger lakes region to the center each weekend.

He said, “I've always loved wolves and studied wildlife in college,” and that he does both jobs for the same motivation, protecting the environment.

Pryor invites all who have had a part in making the preserve what it is, to attend and share their stories and memories at the center's 20th anniversary celebration.

“Whether you helped with construction, animal care, paperwork, planting trees, running a booth at events, or anything, I ask that you join us,” he said.

During the anniversary celebration, the Wolf Mountain Nature Center, will also be fundraising for a critical piece of infrastructure, a walk-in cooler. The $12,000 project would allow them to store more food for the animals on a regular basis, and accept larger food donations without the risk of spoilage.

The Wolf Mountain Nature Center, hosts other events for the public throughout its open season. Pryor notes that there being 13 moons in a year.

“There is a different wolf each moon,” meaning visitors that come at different times of the year get to experience the same wolves in different stages, appearing and acting differently. For instance, right now many of the animals are undergoing summer shedding, but as the daylight hours change and the temperature cools, they will appear and act completely different.

One of the center's largest annual events in the fall is its, Honoring the Spirit of the Wolf Festival, held this year on Sunday October 11, 2026, which may also include some elements of the 20th anniversary celebration.

As the Wolf Mountain Nature Center marks two decades of growth and volunteer-dedication, Sunday's Wolves & Watermelons event, offers the public a chance to see the center's progress first hand, support its next phase, and learn more about the role wolves and other canids play as ecosystem keystone species.